Catcher In The Rye Themes

In all of the books we read, there is one common factor that is in all of them: all books contain themes. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield, travels to New York to escape his parent 's disappointment until Wednesday. On his trip to New York, he encounters many issues and that foster many of the themes in the book. The themes in the book connect to Holden to give the reader a better representation of him as a character. In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, the three major themes are innocence, failure, and loneliness. One major theme in the novel is innocence. Innocence can be considered one the of the largest themes throughout the whole novel. In the novel, Holden wants

While Holden is visiting Phoebe, she asks Holden what his dream job is. Holden answers that question by saying he wants to be the catcher in the rye. “His basic kindness comes through in glimpses, particularly in the passage where he reveals that the only thing he would like to be is a "catcher in the rye" protecting innocent children from falling into the abyss of adulthood.”( Guilt and Innocence 124). This quote from Novels for Students is letting the reader know that Holden wants to preserve innocents in children by being the catcher in the rye. The whole idea of Holden 's dream job is building Holden’s character to let the reader know that he seeks

The last and most important theme is loneliness. Holden Caulfield has most of his issues because he is lonely. Even though Holden is lonely he tends to do things that he does not like to be around people and fit into society. One example where Holden shows that he wants to fit into society to now feel lonely is when he goes to a bar in Greenwich Village called Ernie’s. Holden does not like all the people because they are phony but he still goes into the bar and gets a table. Holden does not like that everyone is cheering Ernie for playing the piano but he is not that good in Holden 's opinion. “Instead of trying either to redeem Holden as a saint or to condemn him as a pessimist, Edwards argues that Holden is an ironic character who critiques his phony culture but ends up participating in the same phony culture that he condemns.” (Bennett 130). In the quote the reader can tell that Holden is doing things he does not like to be around people. The theme of loneliness is such an important part if what Holden is